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My mother texted me today to tell me she will be back from Florida on Sunday and that she misses me.

I sent a message back, saying I missed her too, but she’s not getting her dog back.

Actually, after tomorrow I start the process of getting rid of my belongings and bringing what’s left to my mom’s place about 90 minutes from here. I’d like to spend as much of May there as possible before I move to Toronto June 1st. So she’s lucky. She’ll get her dog back after all ;)

Cream of wheat + egg whites + maple syrup + raisins + cinnamon + cashew butter. Getting through the many jars of nut butter in my fridge. I may be eating cream of wheat for a while though!!

Even though tomorrow is my last day at work, we all went out for a celebratory lunch today because my boss is out of town tomorrow.

My boss gave me full reign over the location. He told me this two weeks ago, and it took me two weeks to decide. This was serious business people!! I wanted to choose a spot that was relatively healthy, inexpensive (since he was paying) but had regular food everyone would enjoy.

Then I realized the one thing everyone loves is breakfast. Who doesn’t love breakfast at any time of day? So the group of us went to a local-ish place called Chez Cora that specializes in brunch-like fare.

Recycled photos. There is a time and place to take pictures of your food. This was neither.

But this is my favourite dish there, so I already have photos on hand! Piece of toast with a perfectly poached egg (someday I will do that!). And cottage cheese dumped on top of the fruit (minus the kiwi today, since I am now off it).

Afterwards, my boss took us to a place called Johnnie Java. A counter and espresso machine tucked in the back of a specialized import store. They roast their own beans there and supposedly have the best coffee in town. I got an espresso macchiato, and it was pretty darn good! Went down smoooooth. They also sell green beans there, so it’s my goal to try roasting my own (using Lori’s popcorn method) before I get rid of my popcorn maker. So, like, this weekend :)

The rest of my afternoon was spent sobbing over leaving my job.

Joking.

Kind of ;)

Lunch was light, and even with my afternoon snack I was still starving for dinner! Threw together what is quickly becoming a staple around here.

My eats are going to be repetitive, boring and random over the next little bit. Instead of apologizing, I’ll instead reassure you that they will get exciting again soon. I already have a dessert list of things to feed my step-siblings in Moncton, then a list of fun things to make in Toronto. One of my new roomies (hi Megan!) is a fellow foodie, so I suspect we’ll be having tons of fun in the kitchen :)

And with that, I’m going to wrap up this post with a little April Goals wrap-up.

Continue the spirit of the sleep challenge, aiming to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. I got around 7-7.5 every night, which is all I can ask for. My body functions best on 7.5 now. Anything over that is just a distant memory…

Get rid of as many of my belongings as possible. Totally didn’t do this. But this is what I’m dedicating all next week to.

Get my bike on the road. Pffft!! It was SO cold ALL month. Any other Maritimers out there agree that we had sucky weather this month? Cold, cloudy or rainy most of the time :(

Chill the eff out. No stress here. Now that I’m funemployed, I have nothing but time to focus on all my obligations. We will just ignore the fact that I no longer have a steady paycheck coming in….mmmkay?

Hope you all have a great Friday!! Mine will be spent working my last day at the university, hopefully eating lunch with the old man, attempting another evening workout, then coming back here for Flashback Friday! See ya then!!

Question of the Day: What is your favourite restaurant and what’s your favourite dish to get there? My favourite restaurant is Calactus, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Moncton, featured here, here, here, and here. But my favourite dish there is the Big Marc Burger, blogged about here. Hands down, the best veggie burger ever!!

Yesss! Tuesday is over my friends! It’s all uphill from here: Waffle Wednesday, Thursday night out, Friday night in :) Love that weekly outlook. I just found out I might have to work on Saturday but that means I can take a day off to go see a concert next week. Plus! I just volunteered to help out at an indoor triathlon on Sunday! I was tempted to register myself, but I haven’t swum since my last triathlon in July. Eeep.

I know I say it a lot but, I do not cheerily leap out of bed every morning excited to go to the gym. I was in a deep sleep when my alarm went off this morning and it was tough going. But I went! I hammered out 6 miles on the treadmill while watching The Hour. It’s a Canadian show, but I’m deluded into thinking George Strombolopolous really is my boyfriend. It made the time spent on the ole ‘mill much more enjoyable.

I’m still grocery-free this week, but I broke and bought some cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese sticks and applesauce on sale at the drugstore today. Breakfast was thrown together last night with what I could muster from the pantry…

My new favourite sandwich! A protein peanut butter sandwich to be exact. Chocolate protein powder mixed with a little water so it’s “spreadable” with peanut butter. Try it. You won’t regret it.

I also whipped up a new batch of homemade protein bars in 5 minutes flat last night.

2 cups dry rolled oats

4 scoops vanilla protein powder

6 tbsp peanut butter

4 tbsp blueberry jam

1/2 cup water

I definitely added too much water to these, as they need to be kept frozen. The jam always adds more moisture than I predict. Mega yummy though. Take that Luna bar.

My shins and calves are seriously dry/itchy/rash-y and not getting much better. So Lori generously sent me some shea butter to help out! Perfect timing too, as I also bought baby oil, more cream and antihistamines today to help clear it up. I am now on a strict skincare regimen. Something I’ve fallen out of the habit of doing since I started showering at the gym everyday.

My other package almost brought me to tears. It was a card and letter from my Grammie (my dad’s mother, as opposed to my Nana who is my mom’s mom).

Enclosed was a photograph of her when she was 16!!

Look at those legs!! I guess that’s where I get mine from ;) In the letter, my Grammie went into detail about what life was like for her when she was 16. It was during the Second World War and she was learning how to help with the war effort in Amherst, Nova Scotia.

One thing that has always kept me in the Maritimes is how close I am with my grandparents. I’m lucky enough that my four grandparents were like extensions of my own parents. I grew up with my mother’s parents in the same city as us. I would often pretend to be sick so I could spend my days at Nana and Papa’s while my mom was at work. In the summer, we moved out to my cottage where my father’s parents were literally 14 steps away just next door. I would wake up every morning, run over to their cottage, and spend the day reading comics, eating ice cream and playing cribbage.

When my Papa passed away in January 2007, reality sunk in that my grandparents won’t be around forever. I was lucky that I lived close enough to home that I could be with my mom and Nana during that time, as it was pretty traumatic for them.

My number one fear moving away is that something is going to happen to one of my three remaining grandparents and I won’t be able to make it back. But in today’s letter, my Grammie wrote, “I know I could have never been as adventurous as my granddaughters are!”

It brought a smile to my face, learning they live vicariously through our adventures. Between me and my two sisters, there’s been a lot! I don’t feel so bad now, knowing my grandparents would never want to hold me back. And also knowing that we all cherish the time spent together when we were younger :)

Speaking of being younger, my Grammie also included this horribly embarrassing photo of my sisters and I…

I’m the one in the striped shirt being dramatic. Apparently I was quite the entertainer – now I prefer being the audience!

Question of the Day? Did you know your grandparents? What was special about them? If my dad is the smartest person I know, then my Papa was the funniest person I knew. Now he was an entertainer ;)

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Welcome!

My name is Susan, I'm a 20-something living in Atlantic Canada and this is my blog about... me. I used to blog about food and fitness, but that all changed in June 2011 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy, I was declared cancer-free in January 2012. I now write about anything and everything as I stumble through my post-cancer world. I'm a trained journalist currently working as a writer/researcher. I also have a background in personal fitness training and nutrition. Welcome to my piece of the internet!
See my About page or Top Posts page for more.

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E-mail me at: thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com

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